Enhancing South-South Cooperation to Complement North-South Cooperation on Climate Change
Developing countries are the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate. Although greatly depending on climate-sensitive natural resources for income and well-being, most developing countries still lack sufficient financial and technical capacities to manage the increasing climate risks. The international community should enhance their support to vulnerable developing countries to mitigate and adapt to the changes in accordance with 'common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities'.
World leaders at the UN Climate Summit “brought bold announcements and actions that would reduce emissions, strengthen climate resilience, and mobilize political will for a meaningful legal agreement in 2015.” They also saw “significant new announcements made in support for South-South Cooperation on climate change (UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon)”, including China's announcement that it would increase support for South-South Cooperation.
South-South cooperation has been widely recognized as an important complement to North-South cooperation, yet its great potential in combating climate change has not been fully tapped. We suggest that South-South cooperation be an integral part of the post-2015 agreement under the UNFCCC. South-South Cooperation on Climate Change (SSCCC) includes, but is not limited to, science for climate policy, climate resilience for livelihood, capacity building, technology transfer, ecosystem-based approaches, and enabling conditions including policy, finance and institutions. Numerous studies have unveiled that:
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